For much of the season, the shootout has not been very friendly to the Flyers, especially goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.

But for one night, the planets aligned for Bryzgalov and the Flyers.

A big blocker stop, a pad stack, and left-handed larceny all came out of Bryzgalov's bag of tricks as he won his first shoot out of the season. It was Matt Read's snipe in round five that capped off the Flyers 5-4 come-from-behind win.

The first half of the game resembled the Flyers heartless outing on Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers; a game in which they dropped 2-0 against one of the weakest teams in the Western Conference.

For over a period and a half of play, the Flyers lacked any type of inspiration. Poor penalty killing, weak play from Bryzgalov and a bad turnover on the power play led to a quick 3-0 lead for the Flames.

The Flyers are considered to be buyers in the coming weeks as the trade deadline rolls near.

Players like Nashville’s Ryan Suter and Shea Weber as well as Toronto’s Luke Schenn have been mentioned in numerous possible trade situations and rumors. But in the end, will it all matter for the Flyers?

Before this turns into a column writing off the Flyers, take a step back and look at the situation the team is in. They are currently eight points behind the Rangers for the Atlantic Division lead while resting with the fourth seed.

But on the other side of the Flyers, they are only eight points ahead of the ninth place Capitals. The Flyers could very easily be in the bottom half of the playoff tree when April rolls around and their possible match ups could spell doom.

Even the most casual of fans can tell you that Wayne Simmonds is the classic example of the kind of athlete that Philadelphia fans love to call their own.

Hardworking, physical and largely underappreciated away from Philly, Simmonds is the kind player that doesn’t always come to the forefront of your mind when discussing skills, but is always number one when you talk about heart.

However, that doesn’t mean that Simmonds doesn’t have skills.

Although it may not be his forte, it’s ill advised to underestimate the 23-year old’s ability to contribute to the offensive phase of the game.

This was made evident on Thursday night when the gritty forward scored two goals against the Nashville Predators.

The last time the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins met, it was in the midst of a seven-game winning streak for the Flyers.

But unfortunately for the orange and black-clad team, that streak came to an abrupt end when they hosted the Stanley Cup champion Bruins.

In a pathetic showing which was featured on HBO’s 24/7, the Flyers were abused 6-0 at the hands of Boston. Just over a month later, the Bullies will seek pay back against the Bruins, who they have split the season series, 1-1, so far.